For the past four years, T.M. Garret has roamed all over the South, and occasionally beyond, to set up fireworks shows, big and small.
From weddings and sporting events to festivals and holidays, Garret is the man in charge of the “oohs” and “aahs.”
“I stay pretty busy,” Garret said Wednesday as he was putting together the final preparations for a fireworks show at Columbus Air Force Base before heading to Starkville Thursday morning to do the same for Starkville’s Fourth of July celebration. “I have 50 events I’ll set up for this year, so I’ll be on the move the whole year.”
Garret is a pyrotechnic director for Pyro Shows, a LaFollette, Tennessee-based company that stages hundreds of fireworks shows each year.
“I really enjoy this,” Garret said, “especially since I joined this company two years ago. I’ve been able to go to all kinds of events and meet so many people in so many places. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun.”
Garret, who lives in Horn Lake, is no stranger to Starkville. In addition to staging the city’s fireworks show last year, he’s also provided pyrotechnics at a handful of Mississippi State sporting events.
But Thursday’s show was special for another reason.
Garret, a German who arrived in the U.S. seven years ago on a work visa, has applied for U.S. citizenship, which makes the celebration of the nation’s birth a bit more poignant.
“It’s been an interesting process, a lot of study,” Garret said. “My wife says I know more about American history and government than she does.”
For the Starkville show, Garret and his assistants arrived before noon at the Starkville Sportsplex to begin preparations for the 9 p.m. show.
“It’s a fairly big show — 2,700 shells and 20 minutes,” Garret said. “That means we have to get there pretty early. Everything is done through electronics, so there are a lot of wires to put in place and check in addition to setting up the fireworks themselves.”
Gerry Logan, the city’s parks and recreation director, said Pyro Shows was among three companies that bid to provide fireworks for the show, which is funded by the city.
“They did a great job last year, so we are happy to have them back,” Logan said.
The city budgeted $12,500 for the show, with the largest part of that going to Pyro Shows ($8,500).
Logan said it’s money well spent.
“We have 5,000 people come out for the event,” he said. “It’s just a lot of fun, something we’re happy to provide for residents. It’s our biggest single event.”
But on Thursday, there was some speculation whether the show would go on.
A pop-up thunderstorm came near enough to Starkville about a half-hour before the first fireworks were to be launched to cause the thousands gathered at the Sportsplex to gather their blankets, chairs and children and rush to their vehicles.
The ones who stayed — or came back after the coast was clear — beheld the spectacle they had waited all day to see.
“We did have some lightning reports from about a couple of miles away, so as a precaution, we announced over the sound system for everyone to go to their cars or to a sheltered area,” Logan said. “We made that announcement around 8:35 and had the stage shut down by 8:54. We were definitely playing it safe.
“Fortunately, we didn’t have any lightning strikes in the area and it really didn’t rain that much,” he added. “So we were able to start the fireworks by around 9:15. I think most of the people came back for the show or watched from the parking lot. I’d say we had between 3,000 and 4,000 people at one point during the evening.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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T.M. Garret
Nick Ruoss, left, and Jason Tomasi place strings of 10 shells into mortars on Thursday at the Starkville Sportsplex. The Independence Day Celebration was hosted by Starkville Parks and Recreation. Photo by: Jennifer Mosbrucker/Dispatch Staff
T.M. Garret attaches wires to an electronic firing system on Thursday at the Starkville Sportsplex. Garret helped with his first firework show four years ago. He currently works with Pyro Shows, a company based out of LaFollette, Tennessee. Photo by: Jennifer Mosbrucker/Dispatch Staff
Gerry Logan
